Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) [Xinhua: "Death Toll Rises To 40 in Southwest China Earthquake"] Huili, Sichuan, Sept.

By Xiao Feng in Beijing and He Na in Changchun The Ministry of Civil Affairs engaged a level-4 emergency response mechanism yesterday afternoon to deal with the damage inflicted by the heavy rains that have doused East China's Jiangxi Province.

By Guan Xiaofeng The Ministry of Civil Affairs is expected to issue new rules to curb the rampant speculative trade in public cemetery land.

China has launched a new crackdown. The targets: accountants, Russian linguists and admirers of a racy Ming dynasty novel.